Southeast Alaska’s regional Native corporation plans to distribute $15.4 million to its shareholders on Wednesday.
Sealaska has approximately 23,000 shareholders who are Lingit, Haida and Tsimshian people living in Southeast Alaska and elsewhere. The for-profit corporation is based in Juneau.
The amount of the dividend per shareholder ranges from $374 to $695 per 100 shares and depends on the class of shareholder.
About half of Sealaska’s payout ($7.6 million) comes from operations income. The other half comes from natural resource revenue sharing funds ($5.1 million) with the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Section 7(i) and the Marjorie V. Young Shareholder Permanent Fund ($2.8 million).
While the ANCSA funds are more volatile, the shareholder permanent fund has seen steady earnings in recent years. The corporation’s operations have seen increased profits the last seven years.
In a press release, Sealaska CEO Anthony Mallott said the corporation’s dividends remain solid despite the economic volatility seen across the globe.
“I think we’ve all been feeling the impact of the tough financial market we’re currently in. But because of the way Sealaska dividends are structured, with the five-year averaging of operations income and the permanent fund, we can help limit large movements in the dividend during years like this one, where investment markets face significant decline,” he said in the statement.
The fall dividend brings the year’s total payout to shareholders to $36.7 million, including $21.3 million paid out in April.
